You Showed Me April 1969
by MajorJune
Summary: This story was written in response to NorthAngel27’s challenge to come up with a work of FanFiction depicting how Severus Snape learned to fly without using a broom -- did Severus learn the skill from Voldemort, or did he first learn it from Lily Evans?


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__This story was written in response to NorthAngel27's challenge to come up with a work of art or FanFiction depicting how Severus Snape learned to fly without using a broom -- did Severus learn the skill from Voldemort, or did he first learn it from Lily Evans?_

_Personally, I always had the feeling that it was Severus who taught Voldemort the skill, which would explain why Snape seemed to have been put on the fast track to Voldie's inner circle. So obviously my slant on the debate is that Lily taught it to Sev, who later taught it to Voldemort._

_I have written this story as a prequel to my Woodstock Snape story (still in progress) on this site, so it follows the same structure as the chapters in that story, including it's own song. Consider it a prequel to the prologues of Woodstock Snape!_

_You can read more about NorthAngel27's challenge here:_

_northangel27 dot deviantart dot com slash journal slash_

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_**YOU SHOWED ME  
**__April, 1969_

"Tell me about flying!"

"I already did," he answered, searching the contents of the sack she had brought.

"Tell me again!" she demanded.

He pulled out a lavender, pink, and lime-green coloured egg, and another that was saffron-yellow with a hand-drawn flower on one side, and a creature on the other side that Severus was not sure was supposed to represent a chicken or a rhinoceros. He held them up and looked at Lily with a slight smirk.

"They're from Easter," she explained. "We made ever so many, we've been eating eggs all week! I made some egg sandwiches, too, they're in there, also…"

Severus put the two hard-boiled eggs in his coat pocket, and retrieved one of the sandwiches. Unwrapping the waxed paper it was in, he leaned back and took a large bite.

They had decided to meet under the bridge on the main road outside the park, so that they could talk and practice without being seen.

It was warm for this early in spring, and the concrete abutments under the bridge absorbed the early afternoon sun, making it quite comfortable against which to lean. Severus took another bite of the sandwich.

"Tell me about _flying_!" Lily again demanded.

"You need a broom," Severus answered, bits of egg yolk and whole wheat crumbs escaping his mouth and falling onto the front of his coat. He quickly flicked them off, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and took another bite of the sandwich.

"_I_ don't!" Lily argued, reaching into the bag and pulling out a paper napkin. "Here!"

Severus took the napkin and wiped at his coat, even though there was no longer anything there, then took another bite of the sandwich.

"Most witches do," he stated as he chewed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full! It's rude!" Lily reprimanded. "How do you _know_ most witches do?" Severus swallowed before answering.

"M' mum said so," he admitted.

"You told your mother about me?" Lily demanded. "What did she say?"

Severus thought for a moment. His mother had not actually said much, but she'd had an odd look, almost a smile, when Severus told her about the girl his own age in the park who obviously was a witch.

"She just said that when she was at Hogwarts, she had heard about witches and wizards who could fly without brooms, but no one had ever actually _known_ anyone who actually did it…she said most people just thought it was an old tale, that it was not really true. But she said that if _you_ could really do it, that you would have to be very careful, you being from a Muggle family and all…"

He finished the sandwich, and made sure to use the napkin to wipe his mouth. He peered into the sack for the orange he had seen there earlier.

Lily stood up with a snort, placing both hands on her hips.

"I don't believe you! It's ever so easy to do; I've been doing it almost since I could walk!"

"That is what my mum said, and she should know," Severus announced, peeling the orange. He looked up at Lily. "What you can do is very rare, in the wizarding world…"

"I bet that _you_ could do it too, if you'd only try!" Lily challenged. Severus almost choked on the bit of orange in his mouth.

"You…you want _me_ to try flying? Without a broom?"

"Of course without a broom, silly!" Lily answered, climbing up onto the top of the concrete abutment. "If _I_ can do it, so can you!"

She jumped off, flying about five feet from the abutment before hanging gracefully for a few seconds, then somersaulting two times and landing at Severus' feet. He stared glumly at her.

"You want _me_ to do _that_?!" Lily just looked at him sadly and sighed.

"You don't have to try anything fancy!" she stated. "But how do you _know_ that you can't do it if you've never tried?"

Severus knew that there was no answer for that statement. True, he had never tried to fly without a broom. However, it was with equal certainty that he knew that as soon as he tried, he would fall directly onto his arse.

"Just _try_, Severus!" Lily pleaded, adding, "For _me?_"

It was the first time she had ever asked something like that. He knew that he could not deny her, when she phrased it that way. He knew that he would _never_ be able to say no to her, when she asked it like that.

He sighed and stood up, putting the unfinished orange on top of the sack and wiping his hands on the seat of his jeans. He then climbed onto the top of the abutment.

"Now what?" he demanded.

"Just jump!"

"I'll land on my arse!"

"Just _try!_"

Severus closed his eyes, held his arms straight out to his sides, and jumped.

He did not land on his ass.

Rather, he felt his toes hit the gravel first, and as his knees buckled he put his hands out in front to break the fall, but he still ended up with gravel embedded in his chin.

"Sev! Are you alright?!" Lily demanded, helping him to sit up.

"I told you so…"Severus mumbled, rubbing his chin. When he looked at his hand, he saw blood on his fingers.

"Here," Lily offered, taking a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbing it on his chin.

"I _told you_ that it was not as easy as you think it is!" Severus complained, enjoying playing the part of the put-upon martyr. However, he was also disappointed that he had _not_ been able to fly as Lily could.

"You could do it if you put your mind to it!" Lily countered. "I _know_ you could! You are one of the smartest people I know!"

"Just how many wizards do you know?" Severus retorted. Nevertheless, he was really enjoying Lily's ministrations.

"You know what I mean!" Lily answered. "The way you put your mind to things, the way you are able to come up with answers, figure things out…"

Severus leaned back on his hands, assessing Lily.

"Alright," he finally stated. "How do _you_ do it?"

"What do you mean? Flying? I don't know, I just jump and…then I fly…."

"There has to be something you do that I am not doing," Severus mused. "What do you think of when you jump? What are your feelings?"

It was Lily's turn to look thoughtful.

"I'm not sure," she answered. "Happy, I guess. It makes me happy. And, I suppose, I never considered that I _couldn't_ do it…"

She stared at Severus.

"I think you just need to focus, Sev," she continued. "Focus your mind. _Believe_ you can do it. Right now you believe that you _can't_ do it, so you're going to keep falling instead of flying!"

"It's just that easy, is it?" Severus asked sarcastically. "Think happy thoughts, and you can fly?"

"Yes, just like Peter Pan!" Lily laughed.

"Who?"

"Peter Pan!" she answered. "Haven't you ever read the story of Peter Pan?"

Severus shook his head. Lily sighed in frustration.

"Well, Peter Pan is a magickal boy who lives with other lost boys in NeverNeverland," Lily explained. "And he is able to fly, and make even Muggles fly, by thinking happy thoughts…"

"Sounds like something a Muggle would think up," Severus complained.

"Severus Snape, you're just being obstinate!" Lily retorted, jumping to her feet and putting her hands on her hips. "I've seen you do magick just by thinking about it! I…I _know_ that you can make that orange levitate, just by willing it to do so!"

Severus cocked an eyebrow and just stared at her.

"Or maybe you can't!" Lily responded. "Maybe you just _pretend_ to be a wizard, maybe you're really just a…a…what was it you called them? A…a…_SQUIB?_"

Now it was Severus' turn to jump to his feet.

"You take that back, Lily Evans!" he demanded, almost in a whine. "I am _not_ a squib, how _dare_ you say so!"

And with that, he stared at the bit of orange still resting on the sack. After a few seconds, it began to rise. When it was two feet off of the ground, it just hung there.

"_Accio orange!"_ Severus screeched, and the orange segments flew into his hand. He turned to Lily with a look of triumph, but she was clutching her sides, laughing.

"You _see_, Sev?" she gasped between laughs. "You _believe_ you can do _those_ things, and you do! It should be the same way with flying. Just because your mother told you that she doesn't think anyone can do it, doesn't mean that she is correct!"

Severus stared at Lily, and then down at the orange segments in his hand. He shoved them into his coat pocket, and climbed back onto the abutment.

"Think happy thoughts, right?" he asked.

"_Believe_ happy thoughts, Sev!" Lily replied. "Believe in _yourself_!"

It did make sense after a fashion, Severus thought. After all, if he could make an orange levitate and "fly" just by willing it to do so, why couldn't he do the same thing with himself?

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Somewhere nearby, the strains of a song came to them from a radio in a car parked somewhere nearby.

_You showed me how to do  
__Exactly what you do  
__How I fell in love with you  
__Ohhhhh, it's true  
__Ohhhhh, I love you_

Severus blanked everything from his mind. He could make things fly. He _could_ make himself fly.

He held his hands out to his sides again, but the thought crossed his mind that this was perhaps an unnecessary gesture, that if one were going to fly one would do it regardless of where one's hands were placed.

He jumped off of the abutment.

_One-one thousand._

_Two-one thousand._

_Three-one thousand…_

He felt himself land on the gravel, but this time he landed flat on his feet, and only stumbled slightly.

Lily rushed over and hugged him.

"You did it, Sev! You did it!" she gushed. "I _knew_ that you could!"

"I did?" he asked, looking around. "I wasn't sure…"

"You hung in the air for a couple of seconds!" Lily explained. "That's a start! Now you just have to practice!"

Severus smiled.

"I flew…"

Lily grinned back.

"You flew! _Without_ a broom! Tell your mother about _that_!"

Severus continued to smile, even as the thought occurred to him that he would _not_ be telling his mother about this. Better to keep it a secret between him and Lily. _Their_ secret, only between the two of them.

_You taught it to me too  
__Exactly what you do  
__And now you love me too  
__Ohhhhh, it's true  
__We're in love, we two_

"It's getting late," Lily announced. "I have to be getting home…"

Severus was disappointed. He had no reason to go home until necessary, and there would be a couple of more hours before it was dark.

Lily gave him another hug.

"Don't look so sad, Sev!" she comforted. "Stay here and practice! That way next week you'll be able to fly with me!"

Severus looked down at his feet.

"Probably not as good as _you_," he answered, but then looked up at her with a cockeyed grin. "But I'll at least be able to hang with you, literally, while _you_ fly!"

Lily laughed at his joke, gave him another hug, and then turned and ran up the embankment towards the park.

_You taught it to me too  
__Exactly what you do  
__And now you love me too_

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_

You showed me how to do  
Exactly what you do  
How I fell in love with you  
Ohhhhh, it's true  
Ohhhhh, I love you

_You showed me how to say  
__Exactly what you say  
__In that very special way  
__Ohhhhh, it's true  
__You fell for me too_

_And when I tried it  
__I could see you fall  
__And I decided  
__It's not a trip at all_

_You taught it to me too  
__Exactly what you do  
__And now you love me too  
__Ohhhhh, it's true  
__We're in love, we two_

_Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na  
__Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  
__We're in love, we two  
__We two_

_You showed me how to do  
__Exactly what you do  
__How I fell in love with you  
__You showed me how to say  
__Exactly what you say  
__In that very special way  
__You taught it to me too  
__Exactly what you do  
__And now you love me too_

_(repeat to fade)_

**You Showed Me  
**The Turtles  
1969


End file.
